The Next Chapter
by DarrinDraskin
Summary: We have witnessed the tale of two chapters in this saga so far. The first; a first hand encounter of what happened at the epicenter of this distruction. The second witnisses what the government did in responce to this outbreak. Now we begin a story of four different indivudals as they fight their way to survive. Now we begin, the next chapter.
1. 01 First Survivor

**Prologue**

We have witnessed the tale of two chapters in this saga so far. The first ended in the loss of their leader, and the madden voyage to an island away from the destruction. The second chapter . . . well we don't actually know how that one ended. As far as I know there still on the run from the military after escaping their 'infection proof helicopter.' But regardless of this, they survived the destruction of a bridge and have reached the other side knowing that they started out as strangers, and come out as a family. Now we set out on our third chapter. One that will twist and turn, shock and awe, and maybe even spill tears of sorrow. It is a chapter unlike any other. So read, enjoy. And above all, survive.

**Dillon**

It wasn't supposed to happen this way. It was supposed to be the faces of unknown people, of strangers he never meet. It was never supposed to be the ones closest to him.

Dillon was a 5'11'' boy in his 13th year in high school. It wasn't because he wanted to; it was because he lacked the money to advance into university. His hair was a jet black shag on his head the framed his face and glasses. He wasn't what some would call athletic, but he still had the beginning of a defined muscle pattern on his chest and arms, always wearing a graphic tee and jeans. His face was long and his jawline rather rugged.

Dillon started out as a rather anti-social high-schooler. He wasn't exactly what you would call an outcast either. He fit into every crowd in high school but enjoyed the regular company of his closest friends and computer the most. It was when he was on his beloved computer that life as he knew it would cease to exist and his new one would begin.

School had been cancelled for the past two days due to the recent outbreak in Philadelphia, of what the media was calling the Green Flu. The government quickly responded with what they called CEDA but the infection was still spreading at a wicked rate. This was the first time that he was actually concerned about catching the media's newest string of health scare, as it came from seemingly nothing and spread like wildfire throughout the entire country. He rarely got sick and had never gotten a flu shot but he still remained healthy in nearly all situations. He was sitting at home, playing Portal 2 with his best friend Matt. Matt also seemed to have a certain resistance to this flu. They were playing custom maps that were already completed as no one else seemed to be online making maps since the flu had started. "What do you think is going to happen?" He asked Matt through his headset.

"I don't know. What happened in Philly is slowly coming our way." He sounded generally worried, he had every right to. But /matt was never one to admit it. "All I know is that we're not going back to school for a while." Matt replied in a somewhat grim tone. It was just a way for the two of them to talk without the boredom of being on the phone.

Everything was going rather well when there was a loud bang on the door. It was Matt's door. "That was loud." Matt commented. "Hang on a minute. I'll be right back." He replied in an annoyed tone. After all who would be at the door at a time like this, during a time like this? He was setting up for the next step in the puzzle when he heard a struggle on the other end. "Matt!" He shouted. What was happening, he had to know. "Matt! Are you alright?" There was no longer any noise coming from the other end. Not even a raged voice of the sounds of footsteps. "Matt?"

"Dillon." Came a staggered response from the other end. It was so sudden that it scared him half to death. "Matt! Oh thank goodness I thought you were dead."

"I may well be." He said in a strained voice.

"Don't say that!" Dillon was not about to let his best friend die from some mad man. "I'm coming over. Try and hold on until I can get there." He picked up the phone to call the police but was stopped by Matt himself.

"NO!" He shouted over the headset. "Don't come over. And don't call the cops. They can't help us now."

"Matt, what's going on? You're starting to scare me." And he was. Not even five minutes before they were having a great time playing games and now Matt was talking about himself dying? Something was terribly wrong.

"Go to your window." Matt instructed, his voice continually getting worse. "Go, and you'll see what I saw."

With slow steps he did. Scared of what he would see, be still he went. With portable phone in hand he slowly peered through the curtains of his small room in the tiny apartment he lived in with his dad, and he saw. He saw what Matt had seen. It was crashed cars and it was people running rampant, it was fear and it was pure chaos in the streets, it was zombies. Zombies chasing after everything that moved and tarring them apart to eat them while they were still screaming. It everything he had hoped for and it was what he feared the most. Total and utter anarchy. "Zombies." He whispered into his headset.

"Zombies," Matt whispered back, "that's who was at the door, and that's what is no lying dead in the next room." His breathing was laboured, Dillon could hear that now, he could also hear how much pain Matt was in.

"What, happened?" Dillon demanded. He was now scared beyond recognition but he had to know. He had to know how his friend had died.

"He bit me." He said in a ragged, half-hearted voice. "It's interesting how much muscle there is covering the bone until you see it for yourself."

Dillon could mentally see an image of a large hole in Matt's arm and the torn flesh that came from it. He could also see the amount of blood that would be lost from such a big hole and how it would be pooling beneath him. He felt physically sick just picturing it let alone wanting to see it, but he didn't. He knew that things would likely get worse before things were over.

"Looks like he won't be getting that sequel." Matt joked. His voice raised at the end as a spasm of pain raked through him.

Dillon laughed softly despite the situation; there was irony in his statement even if Matt didn't know it. The irony was that Dillon was currently wearing his Lambda shirt. It was probably the last thing he would wear anyhow. "Maybe someday."

"Might be. Ungh. Maybe I'll get to show when I, Ang, when I see you next time." Matt staggered out.

"No." Dillon said defiantly. "There won't need to be a next time. Hang in there; I'm not going to let you die." But before he moved to the door Matt called him back.

He almost didn't hear him as he took the head set off and the voice coming from the other end has so weak and ragged. "Dillon." It said.

"Matt?" He hesitantly replied, putting his headset back on. "What is it?" But there was no answer. "Matt? Are you there?" All he could do was listen to his heavy breathing from the other end and watch as his logo clicked into offline. "Matt?" Dillon shouted at the now lonely screen. "Matt!...MATT!" But it was no use. Matt was gone. It was a symbolic thing to do but it did more for Dillon than he would have thought. It drove the urge to rush to his house and save him, and replaced it with one of mourning. It was his way of saying goodbye and he wouldn't ruin his message by going and getting himself killed.

It was only a few moments, but the phone in his hand started to ring. He had forgotten that he was still holding it. Could it have been Matt? Was he really still alive? He fanatically answered it in hopes that it was his friend. "Matt? Is that you?" He answered.

"Dillon, thank god you're safe." It wasn't Matt, It was his father. A part of him was happy to hear him; the other was disappointed that he would never get to hear his friend again.

"I'm O.K. dad," He reassured him in a child-like voice, "Where are you?"

"At work, I just had to kill my boss to stop him from eating me. Unfortunately he wasn't the first I had to do that to." His tone was serious as he spoke what he was had to do to his son. "We need to leave and go find a safe place to hide until this mostly blows over."

"How about the cabin?" Dillon asked trying to think quickly.

"Good idea. I only hope that the fish aren't affected by this flu as well." He heard some kind of noise from the other end of the phone and his father started talking in a fast low voice. "Here's what I want you to do. Grab every scrap of food and something to defend yourself. I should be home within half an hour, if not...I love you son." His father was never one to say goodbye, even now his stubborn habits remained.

"I love you too dad." And then he was gone, just like his friend.

After Matt had gathered everything his dad told him to, he waited. But his father never came home. Not after a half hour, or an hour, or two or three or even five hours. His father never made it back. All the while he was waiting; he heard the screams of the dead and dying slowly fading into the distance. Soon he was left with nothing but the hum of his computer that he still had yet to turn off. He didn't think that he would have time to. Maybe his dad would come through the door now, this moment, maybe the next or the next but he never did.

After the fifth hour of waiting he decided to head off on his own. He grabbed the bigger backpack of the two he had prepared, and headed of towards the CEDA outpost set up in the high school. It was all over the radio. One didn't have to turn the station to hear it, because it was on all of them. It was only the same recording playing over and over again. "If there is anyone left to hear this, the Civil Emergency and Defence Agency will be setting up a vaccination and evacuation sight in your town's largest public place. It may be a mall or a park. Others may be inclined to check city squares or schools. There will also be posters set up around the city about location. It is also advised to report unusual behaviour. If you do not wish to venture outside, then barricade your homes. It is vital that you are to avoid contact with any infected individuals. Wait for official instructions." There is a three second pause before the recording repeats again.

He knew the direction to the school and thought to himself aloud, "Looks like I'm going to school sooner than you thought Matt." It was a long way there without a bus, and he had to get out of the building first, and he knew there were so many people that were sick. Only they probably weren't sick anymore.

He doubted taking the stairs was a good idea as the might be crawling with the infected, so he took the elevator. There was no fire, yet, so it should work smoothly. But before he went, he noticed a fire axe by the stairs. He smashed the glass with his elbow to get at it. This was both a good and bad idea. As he took out the axe he heard screaming coming from all around. "Oh crud!" He said figuring that in their new state, the infected were sensitive to noise. He jammed his hand onto the button but it was too late. They knew where he was, and they were hungry.

He saw his first infected through the glass of the stairwell door, and he knew he was in for trouble. Its eyes were black hole with shining white pupils and a smear blood across its mouth. The scowl of terror on its face did its job and struck fear into Dillon; he was frozen in place and missed the elevator doors opening behind him. It started banging on the door as several more came up from behind it to assist in the task of destroying the steel door. What did snap him out of his phase was the sound of a door smashing at the other end of the hall. He looked at it with as much fright as the ones behind the steel door. It looked around the hall for the source of the original disturbance for a few moments before making eye contact with Dillon. He then noticed what, or who rather, it was. It was old Mrs. Parsons, your little old lady that was so sweet and caring. She let out a terrible scream and Dillon knew to move fast. He spun and noticed that the door was open and nearly tripped trying to scramble inside. He tried to close the door but Parsons was now much faster than even he was and she slammed herself into the doors just as it was closing, leaving her arm stuck between the doors. The elevator wouldn't go down until the doors were closed and he could think of only one way that this was going to end. He picked himself up off the floor of the elevator and raised his axe. With one swift downward swing, he relived Parsons of her arm.

The door closed shortly after, and just in time. He heard the metal door to the stairwell being smashed open with a loud clang, followed by more frantic banging on the elevator doors slowly disappearing as he went down. The arm he had severed was still in the elevator so he decided to investigate it as he went down. Now that he started to look at it, he noticed how discoloured the skin was. It was a sickly grey with blood covering some of the hand, and now some of the floor. He noted the he cut the arm off near the shoulder, but the bone was sheered relatively clean through. "At least this makes them easy to kill." He mused to himself, "Although numbers might cause problems." He figured that if he could get to the evacuation site, then he should be safe from fighting any more. This idea soon left him as the doors open on ground level.

Inside the lobby alone there were only a handful of zombies, but outside, there had to at least be two dozen that he could see. If he wanted to live, he would have to go. He tried to sneak out the back door, but the same thing happened as upstairs; the first one saw him, screamed, and everything now wanted to eat him. Instead of running this time, he fought. After all there were only a few in the lobby, how hard could they be.

He swung at the first one that came after him with an upward swing, cutting its chest open from shoulder to kidney. The zombie stumbled backwards and fell to the ground instantly dead. The next leaped over it without a downwards glance and came at Dillon with as much ferocity as he had seen from a really ticked off cat. Of course they all did this, so it was hard to tell if it was more or less than the next. Dillon raised the axe to shoulder height and swung sideways and made contact with the zombie's neck, forcing a spray of blood across the walls. This zombie stumbled forward slightly by momentum and Dillon used this opportunity to cause a distraction. He kicked the headless zombie backwards causing it to stumble into the next. This caught it off guard and it too stumbled back into the one following. Dillon ran forwards with axe in hand and shoved the headless zombie out of the way and did another sideways swing. The fourth zombie had tried to side step before tumbling into the ragdoll, so Dillon managed to get a two for one special with his swing.

The next had been on the far side of the lobby so it was now only getting into striking distance. Dillon jumped over the four dead bodies and took a stance waiting for the right opportunity. When the zombie reached out to hit him, Dillon countered with a shove knocking the zombie off balance. With this wide open stance Dillon swung up hard with enough force to nearly split the zombie in two. The axe went from groin to chest getting shallower as it went. The axe hollowed out at about the lungs and hit her square in the head, as the zombie was looking down at the time. He wedged the axe free and the body went down like a stone. Dillon then felt a pain on his back as if someone had punched him. Without hesitation, Dillon raised the axe, and swung in a round arch. Not only did he get his attacker, but he clipped another that had raised arms posed to strike. _Wait a minute_, he thought, _weren't there only five in the lobby? This would make seven._ Sure enough, when he looked up from his mess, the glass doors leading outside were broken and an entire horde of infected were coming straight at him, and Dillon smiled. He had taken out eight already, what difference did another two dozen make. "He took a stance and yelled at his would be attackers, "If I'm going down," he hit the lead zombie in the chest and followed with another to its pursuer, "I'm going to go down swinging!"

And swing he did. He swung left and right, up and down, he even did a couple of spins with axe raised to hit anything around him. When all was said and done, Dillon remained. There were now heads and limbs and other severed parts now lying where the horde had once stood. The walls of the lobby also now had a red paint job. This is not to say that he got away unscathed. He had taken several more hits from all directions leaving both scratches and bruises on his upper body. His bag had been knocked off during the fight, or did he take it off, he couldn't remember. Either way, he picked it up and headed out the door ready to face what was next. Anything except what he found.

It was the body of a man. Not an infected man, but an unmistakable man. It was his father. When he realized that it has him and that he was not breathing, he broke down right there in the spillover of blood and parts on the street. As he wept two thoughts came to mind. The first: I guess he did make it home, and the next was simply: Why? Why did it have to be him? These thoughts came at the same time and he laughed as he cried a stream from his eyes. He didn't know how long he cried, it could have been an hour, a day, or even thirty seconds. All he knew was that when he looked up, he saw a long infected, and he heard a blood curtailing scream. What scared him the most was that he didn't know where the scream came from. Him, or the zombie.

What came next he could not say. All he remembers was screaming and the taste of blood in his mouth, and the distinct call of "Die you zombie bastards!" The next thing he knew he woke up, sore but alive, on a bus heading who knew where. He was slouched against the wall and woke up with a bang as his head smacked against the window. He jolted backwards and held his throbbing head with both hands. "It feels like I've been hit with a rifle." He moaned in a groggy voice.

"That's because you probably were, and those sedatives probably didn't help either." Came a silken voice from beside him. He turned to see a woman sitting beside him. She had short auburn hair and a small round face accented with small stud earrings. It wasn't the most beautiful face he had seen, but it wasn't hard on the eyes either. She was dressed in a rather sensual outfit, something that would draw eyes in a crowd but nothing that would suggest what she did for a living. It was a dark purple tank top that looked almost too small for her to be wearing. Over top was a black leather jacket that covered her arms, shoulders, and came down to about her stomach. She also had on some purple plaid pants that fit almost perfectly with a pair of calf high leather boot-heels with what looked like 3 buckles on each.

"I'm glad to see that you awake. Although, my eyes are up here." Dillon hadn't realized he was staring until she grabbed his chin very delicately and pulled it up. He was surprised that he was. She wasn't blessed in that area, in fact, she was very petite all around. She looked to be about 5'3" when he thought about it.

Dillon blushed when this woman noted that he was staring, and turned to inspect how detailed the floor was. "Don't worry kid," She reassured him with a hand on his shoulder, "I get it all the time." Dillon then realized that he wasn't wearing his backpack.

He almost panicked when he realized this. "My bag," He asked her, "what happened to it?"

"Whoa kid, calm down. I don't want anyone hitting you again." She tightened her grip on his shoulder in an attempt to calm him down. "Just calm down and we can talk about what happened."

He patted himself down looking for something in-particular. He felt his pocket and immediately calmed down when his hand met a small object. It took him several more moments to actually settle his nerves and he let out a long sigh as he thumped his head against the seat. "That's better kid. The CEDA agents took it. They said they were low on food."

"Low on food?" He almost laughed. "It hasn't even been, what, six hours since this whole thing started. And you would have thought that they would have planned for this after Philadelphia."

"It's been ten actually. You sure can take a put up a fight for a kid."

"Are you going to call me something besides just kid?" Rolling his head to the side.

"I would, if I knew who you were."

Dillon blushed slightly again, but it wasn't as deep as last time. He had been so caught up in trying to figure out the new situation he was in that he forgot to tell this woman his name. "You can call me Dillon then." He stated gesturing out his hand.

"Then you can call me Samantha," She replied, "or Sam if you prefer."

He gave Sam a kind handshake before breaking off and fully looking at his surroundings. He looked out the window and saw the dusk of a setting sun. He also looked around to see people of all shapes and sizes huddled into the seats, none of which he had seen before. "Any idea where all of these people are headed?" He asked.

"I'll know when you do." She jested. "But I do know one thing."

"And what might that be?" He asked after she trailed off.

"I know that whatever happens, were going to be in this together."

Dillon looked at her long and hard to tell if she was joking, but found no trace of sarcasm in her voice or features. "Deal." He said, giving a curt nod.

* * *

Yay for my first story. I hope it pleases everyone that reads it, and everyone that doesn't. Also, just a few quick notes.

I planned on only up loading this when I had finished all of the main characters. But alas, plans change.

If anyone noticed, I edited this myself. So if anyone out there is willing to be my editor, I would be much obliged. If anything needs rectifying, let me know.

I will never have an AN at the beginning of the story unless it is extremely important.

I hate to say this on my first Fic, but it would really help me if anyone bothering to read this little note to please R&R.

Final thoughts, I will never have a steady upload schedule. Don't expect me to promise periodic updates ever. But do not fear, for I will NOT abandon this story, I will see it through to the bitter end. Even if that bitter end is 20 years down the road.


	2. 02 An Unlikely Acquaintance

**Samantha**

She rather liked this kid. That was somewhat contradictory for her to think in her profession. Of course rules didn't exactly apply anymore in this situation. "So what actually happened out there?" Sam questioned trying to break the silence on the bus.

Dillon was confused at this. "What are you talking about?" he asked back.

"When you came in, you were yelling and screaming your eyes out. The axe you had was drenched in blood, and up to your elbows was just as bad." She looked at him worriedly. "It took five army men to restrain you and two more to give you a sedative. Not to mention these knocks on the head."

"Oh. That." He rubbed his arm ashamed of what he had done. "To be honest, I don't really know what happened. Because I can't remember."

"Can't or won't?" Her voice was calm to make him feel relaxed. She didn't want to make a bigger scene than he already did in the school.

"Can't." He retorted sternly. "I simply cannot remember what happened after I left my building."

The silence returned for a few awkward minutes before he dared to ask him. "Then tell me." it came out as more of a demand, but it still sounded much like a question. "If you really can't remember, then tell me what happened before then. Let me understand."

He didn't move from his position for the longest time. It was all too eerie how still he was in those moments. Sam was scared that he had actually died he was so still. "Dillon?" She whispered, cautiously leaning over. He rolled his head towards her so suddenly it gave her a fright. She let a small yelp escape and quickly leaned back placing a hand over her racing heart. "Jeez Dillon, you scared me. I almost thought you had died for a minute there."

"It'll take more than an illness to stop me." His voice was sad but there was a joking tone underneath it. "I was just trying to gather my thoughts. Everything is a mess since this morning."

He took a deep breath before starting with, "I might as well start with Matt."

"Brother?" She asked gently.

"Friend." He corrected. "We were playing games online when everything went downhill. There was someone at the door so he went to answer it ..." and Dillon then relayed everything that had happened to him the previous day. He told her of Matt's last moments, of his first encounter with the infected, and he even told her of finding his father. "Then the next thing I knew, I woke up here with you." He looked over and gave her an almost sad expression. But this was shortly contradicted with a smile. "So that was my day," He stated suddenly, both sad and joking at the same time, "how did yours go?"

This stunned Sam. "Hmm, what?" She stammered.

"You heard me." He retorted. "I told you mine now you tell me yours." She didn't know what to say. She knew what had happened to her and she didn't know why Dillon wanted to know. "If we're going to stick together, I'm going to have to trust you. Knowing who you are is a good start." He raised an eyebrow at her and that did it for her. She let out a rather loud giggle that made more than a few heads turn.

"Alright, alright," She chuckled, "I'll tell you." She took a couple deep breaths to calm her nerves. She than took her hand and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Before I start there is something that you should know." She was much calmer now.

"And what would that be?" She had piqued his interest.

"It was what I did for a living." She was avoiding eye contact.

"I can't guess it." He replied.

"Well," she started again. She relay didn't want to tell him this but she felt it was for the better. "I...was...how shall I put this? A lady of the evening." And she looked directly at him. It was the only was that he would believe her.

"A hoo-" He was going to question before Sam cut him off.

"An escort, yes." She stated quickly to avoid listing ears. "It's not something I'm proud of, but when I started I felt that there was no other option." Dillon was still listing but she could see that his mind was running rampant with her statement. She didn't think about what he was wondering and didn't care to find out. All she did was tell him her story and hope that he listened because she wasn't going to repeat herself.

"My day," she began "started out the night before. Business was slow because of this outbreak and it didn't seem like it was going to get better soon, so I accepted the first offer I got."

* * *

He was a mousey man, short and balding alike and seemed to be making every crude remark he could think of. She knew it would be a long night, and it turned out to be longer. He treated her roughly and even had a slimy feel to him. The next morning when she had taken his money and was about to leave, he offered her enough to cover another night. She hated herself for it but she took his offer any way. And she soon regretted that decision as well. He seemed worse than the night before and it was even worse when he got drunk. Fortunately he was easier to deal with when the drinking finally got him drunk. She could deal with drunken men, they were easy to confuse and were fun to toy with when they treated her like he did. But that fun was also short-lived. Not long after he started to get violent. Pulling her hair, violently gabbing her clothes, even beating her slightly. She was going to give him his money back and leave but that's when things got scary.

"Wait," He said in a slurred voice, "just give me one more and you can keep half."

She thought long and hard about it and eventually said "Fine, but make it quick before I change my mind." She took one last look at him before getting to business. His skin looked paler and his motions were jerky and sloppy at the same time. She simply passed both off to his drinking. During the business was when things really went downhill.

It was during his…moment that he truly turned into an infected. Luckily she was on top and got a head start. When he opened his eyes and they were white pupils, she knew something was amiss. She tumbled off and ran through his house to find something to defend herself. She could tell that he was right behind him because of his heavy footsteps and loud growling. She found an open door and threw herself through it, slamming it in a quick spin. She knew this protection wouldn't last long as the man started to thrash against the now seemingly flimsy door.

"Gotta' find something." She mumbled to herself in panic. She glanced around the room and saw very little. It must have been a spare room that never got used. The only thing she saw that she could use was a lamp, a really small, really ugly lamp. She grabbed it and tried to move away from the door to get a good swing in, but it was ripped from her hand. Of course it did, it was still plugged in. Frustrated, she moved to get the plug out when an extremely loud crash stole her attention. This startled her again and she spun around thinking she had to defend herself empty-handed. Fortunately it was only piece of the door had been broken.

She peered at the, thing, which was on the other side of the door reaching its hand through to grab her. She dared not look at it now as she needed to dispatch of it before it could return the favor. She scrambled to reach behind the dresser the lamp was on to find the plug. When she grabbed the cord, it seemed to go on far too long. When she positioned her head to look behind, she saw that the cord continued to the other end that the lamp was on. She heard another crack and knew she had to really hurry now.

With a large grunt, she nudged the dresser far enough away from the wall it was on to reach the cord. It seemed to be getting farther away as she reached closer for it. Then another crack, louder than the rest, came from behind her and she heard a scream of both success and primal hatred. _Screw it_, she thought and lunged up to grab the lamp. She reached for the lamp, grabbed it, and swung in around her in one swift motion to have it crash into the man's head. No sooner did she reach the end of the cord again and it was ripped out of her hand once more. She then sank to the floor out of exhaustion and fear.

She scurried back into a corner, as far away from the now limp body as she could get, and curled up in terror. It was only when she stopped shaking that she could hear the screams coming from outside. She did not have to look to tell how badly things were going. It must have been like what happened with her, only on a grander scale.

She spent a long time in that corner, too long for her own liking. After about an hour of hiding she pulled herself together and decided she had to get moving. She slowly got up on wobbly legs and walked over to last night's company. He looked the same as he had before, but it was obvious what she had missed before. His skin was still pale, a dull grey now, his nails had started to bleed, his mouth was seeping both saliva and blood, and his eyes. His eyes were the only handsome thing about him. But now, they were bright white pupils that seemed to shine in the dim lighting surrounded by nothing but blackness. She shivered at the sight of him now. She didn't regret killing this poor man, in fact she was somewhat glad to do so, what she didn't like was how easy it was. Upon contact, his head caved in like a mine collapse.

_It must be the Green Flu_, she thought, _it must be, changing people._ She shuddered once more.

She was about to leave when she noticed a drawer open on the dresser where the lamp was. Out of curiosity, she leaned over the body and peaked inside. Its only contents; a pistol. She let out a sigh of frustration at this. After a short minute of self-loathing, she picked up the gun and left to retrieve her clothes.

She only felt uncomfortable about her half nudity after the whole thing was over and she found her tossed aside clothes. She tried to put everything back on but noticed that a few things had been ripped in the days earlier events. She looked herself over in the mirror and was very displeased. All she had on were her work clothes, and she didn't bring a spare set for any type of outing. She thought long about what she was going to do and finally decided after scrounging through the man's house. "Looks like I need to do a little shopping." She stated after a second quick look in the mirror.

It would be difficult to get to any sort of establishment in the current state everything was in. Fortunately the little man compensated with a big truck. She found his keys, along with a few hundred dollars, some half-decent clothes to wear in public, and a second magazine for the gun, while searching. She headed for his garage where her chariot awaited and shoved the money into her pocket and placed the gun on the dash board. She started the engine with a roar and almost immediately heard many hands banging against the door.

She gave a small laugh before throwing the truck into reverse and hitting the gas. The truck spun its tires for a few seconds before getting traction and speeding backwards. It smashed through the flimsy aluminum door and flattening the infected people behind it. With a few awkward bumps, she cleared the door and was reversing into the street. She hit several more on the way both hearing and feeling the thud against the truck. She flipped it into drive and sped off down the street in search of new clothes.

It was somewhat smooth ride getting there. There were many 'obstacles' in the way, but if they were just ignored then the trip was just fine. She drove around the city for some time, weaving in and out of the crashed cars, until she found her favourite store. She decided to keep driving to clear out most of the other infected close to the store. After the fifth cycle, there was nothing left to run over so she parked as close to the building as she could and went inside.

When she opened the door it was like a world of opportunities. Everything was on sale, the reduction; 100% off. She went crazy. No lines, no people to push past, and no need for discretion. Everything she tried on was on the spot. No need for a changing room anymore. There were a few, interruptions. But those were quickly taken care of with her new pistol. A few times she regretted it as it stained some possible new outfits. When all was said and done, she had picked out five new sets of attire; a rather mundane one for the current situation, the one she had on when she would later meet Dillon, and three others. She loaded the four others into nice store bags, checked them over to make sure they were exactly what she wanted, and walked through the security alarm. "Oops."

It was clearly time to go and Sam wasted no time in doing so. She bolted out side as she heard a scream rip through the air. It seemed to be picked up by others, or maybe it was just echoing off of the buildings. She didn't really have time to think about it. She ran back to the now red truck, and jumped inside. She flipped the keys and the engine switched on in an instant. She could see the massive flood of infected come around the corner of the block in a tidal wave of flesh and hunger. It was the second time that day that she actually felt scared. She flipped the truck into reverse again and backed up. She immediately hit the brakes when she saw the same wave coming from behind her as well. "Oh dear." She whimpered aloud. She sat for several moments thinking how to get out of this situation and thought of only one, and it was the same one she used earlier that day. "Screw it!" She yelled as she flipped the truck back into drive and squealed the tires.

The truck fish tailed for a second before grabbing the road. But when it did, there was no stopping her. She charged the infected mass head on all the while letting loose a battle cry. "AAAAHHHHHHHH!" What happened next seemed all a blur.

The wall of meat practically erupted in front of her vehicle as she sped into it. After that, she couldn't see through the windshield there was so much blood. She unfortunately left the windows down and got more than one arm or hand caught in the frame, all of which came loose and started to drift about the cabin seeping blood where ever they went. She soon guessed where the streets met up and put the truck into a slide around the corner. Time seemed to slow as she spun. She hoped to anything that she hadn't done this too late or too early. She closed her eyes and drove straightened out. When she felt no more hitting against the truck, and no sudden impact of a wall, she peeked open her eyes. She still couldn't see through the windshield, but a few flips of the wipers and things became clearer. She was driving, relatively straight down the road with the horde slowly shrinking in the distance.

She let out a deep sigh of relief and continued to drive as far away from the horde as was possible. But the horror wasn't over just yet. As she was rounding another corner in her pursuit of freedom, the back window came crashing in. She looked in the reverse mirror and saw an arm reaching through the shattered glass. She reached for her gun but she knocked it down the passenger side seat. It slid beneath a carpet of hands and limbs and she was not going to go looking for it. The only thing she could do was bob and weave to try to shake the infected lose. Though try as she could though, the zombie hung on with inhuman grip. She weaved left and right but the infected would not let go. And her time was running out. The zombie was breaking more glass and was slowly making its way inside the cabin, ever closer, always screaming. She was turning corners at a random rate doing all she could to remove the infected from the truck long after it was remotely possible.

When it was close enough, the zombie took a swing at her. She screeched in terror and leaned away from its attack, and turning the wheel with her. The truck did an extremely sharp turn and went into a roll. Both her and the zombie did turn after turn after turn and eventually came to a stop against the side of a building. She could feel the impact of the truck landing on its roof and see how much damage the truck had taken. Luckily the zombie that was trying to kill her earlier was now lying dead next to her, its eyes gazing off in hatred.

She couldn't help but relax despite the situation. This was a mistake as it hurt so much. She gazed off into the distance herself as saw something coming towards her. Her vision was too blurred to make out anything clearly. All she could tell was that it was a person, be that infected or non, she could not tell for certain. "No." She whimpered. She felt so exhausted that she could barely move her head away. "Please, no." It was an effort to even talk let alone defend herself. "I won't, die, yet."

"Not if we can help it." Came a voice from nowhere. She could now see multiple pairs of feet, all of them coming towards her location.

"No." She whined again. "No, you can't. You can't eat me."

"We're not the infected." A different voice replied. Her head hurt so much that it was hard to tell the difference from one voice to another. "She's still alive, someone get over here and help."

She heard a loud screech from beside her and a beam of dim light blinded her. She covered her eyes as best she could. Everything hurt. "Please, no." She could see silhouettes of people through the large opening that had been created. "You can't." They reached out for her and she tried to squirm away from them but she couldn't even manage an inch.

Soon she felt like she was floating through the air. "No, you can't" She could see a building in the distance. A red bricked, three-story building with window all along the front. "You can't." She tried to reason with whomever was taking her. "Not without my clothing. My, new clothes. There so pretty." She felt a prick in her arm and soon blacked out.

It was awhile later when she regained consciousness. Her head was still swimming but it didn't hurt like it used to. She tried to sit up but that still hurt. A hand placed itself on her chest and some said "Stay down honey. You're still very injured." She looked in the direction of the voice and saw a nurse, still in her uniform.

"Where am I?" Sam asked. She looked around the room, but from her laid down position, it didn't really do any good.

"We're in the local high school. Up on the third floor."

She continued to look and saw several other people about talking to each other. There were all sorts of people, but they all seemed so nervous. Not just from the situation. That was when she saw the armed military personnel standing by the doors. "What's with the guns?" She asked starting to get worried herself.

"This is where they are keeping everyone that might be infected with the Green Flu." The nurse stated bluntly. "They found you with stains all over your clothes, and they say your truck was nothing but red."

_My clothes!_ Sam thought. _Not my brand new clothing!_ She sat up despite what the nurse's protest, and looked down at herself. She immediately let out a sigh of relief and laid back down. She was wearing the Purple/leather outfit that she had put together. "Thank goodness they let me keep this outfit." She looked over at the nurse and wondered aloud, "What happened to the rest of what I had?"

"I was the one that they made to change you," she said placing a hand on her own chest, "I chose the outfit from the bag that they brought in, and let the guards take the rest."

Sam was horrified. Her brand new outfits, that she spent so long choosing with care, were being given to the ones that it would look most hideous on. "You did what!" She questioned rather loudly.

"Calm down ma'am," The nurse spoke coolly to calm down the unruly patient, "this outbreak wasn't exactly predicted to happen as it has. The CEDA agents are low on all supplies, and some people are coming in with nothing but the tattered clothes on their backs. They need it more than you do. I at least made sure that you kept you cash at hand." Her last statement was more matter of fact than it was calming. She wanted to argue her right to keep them, regardless; Sam let the issue of her new clothes drop. They weren't exactly hers this morning.

Soon after, Sam was allowed to sit up by the nurse after much insisting from her own part, and was having a rather pleasant conversation. Sam learned that the nurse was in fact, a nurse, and had been called into the hospital due to everyone else calling in sick. She was inside the hospital when everything hit the fan and she was lucky to get outside with her life. The agents had sent her up here because she had had the greatest amount of time exposed to numerous people who were confirmed to have the Green Flu. "We should have seen this coming." The nurse said, clearly distraught, "It happened in Philadelphia, and it was headed this way. I should have saved myself and run when I had the chance."

"Where would you have gone?" She asked sarcastically. The entire country was plagued with this virus.

"I don't know," the nurse responded, "My best option would have been to gather as much supplies as I could, and sail off to some island." They lived in Eatonia, a small city in Southern Alabama, so finding an uninhabited island might have been a small problem.

Their conversation was interrupted shortly by something she did not expect. There could be yelling heard from down the hall and soon the source was brought into the room. It was a kid, couldn't possibly be any older than 20. He was yelling and screaming all kinds of harsh words and non-sensual language. He was carried in through the door by four army men, one on each limb. Even as they brought him in and set him down on a cot, they still needed additional support to restrain him. But the kid was thrashing about so furiously that nothing could be done to strap him down.

"Nurse," Commended one of the army guys, "get over here." He pointed at the nurse that Sam had talked to and she quickly obliged. Sam followed close behind, curios about what was going on. What she saw horrified her. It was by all standards, a regular man. But what scared her was the look on his face. It was contorted in rage like those infected, but his eyes were still a rich mix of blues and greens, and his face was bright pink turning to red not a pale grey. Worse still were his arms. They were slick with blood up to his elbows. They flung a fine sprinkle of blood every time they were waved back and forth. She looked at his legs and saw that they too were soaked up to his calf.

"Please step back ma'am." Said instructed one of the guards forcing her back. She stumbled back onto the cot adjacent and saw the guards holding what appeared to be a red axe. "He had this with him, sir." "Give his pack to the agents. If they find anything they can't use, have it sent back up here. And go get rid of that thing." Was the response of the superior officer. It seemed normal enough until the guard handed it off to a CEDA agent at the door. It left his hands red and smeared more on the agent's. She looked at it in disbelief as she realized that it was covered in blood from the head all the way to the bottom of the handle.

She was interrupted from her thoughts when one of the army men dealing with the kid. "Hurry up with those sedatives nurse!" "Hold him still and I will!"

She got up abruptly and shoved past the army men to get to the boy. "Give me that." She demanded. She swung for the needle and yanked it straight out of the nurse's hand. Before anyone could object, she took the needle and stabbed it directly into the thrashing boy's heart.

"You can't just do that!" The nurse screeched.

"I just did." She rebutted. "If you want to get the job done," She continued, instructing the nurse, "don't hesitate. And that goes for you army men as well." She was really agitated now. "Why didn't you just put him out of his misery when you saw him?"

The boy was now slowly diminishing his movements so everyone thought it safe to leave him alone to the nurse to fret over. One of the guards approached her as he dismissed the rest. "Well ma'am," He began, "when my man first saw him, they claimed it was in front of the school. What's more extraordinary are the clams of what he was doing."

She was suspicious now. What was this soldier getting at? "What do you mean?"

"They said that he ran head on into a nearby horde." She was flabbergasted. Why in anyone in their right mind run directly into a hoard. Then again, he clearly wasn't in his right mind. Her silence was the soldier's queue to continue talking. "He was swinging that axe of his like a mad man they say. My men could only stand and watch as he plowed through nearly fifty infected. They had every right not to attack him. Anyone that attacks those things can't be infected." With that, he left her to her thoughts.

_If they truly found him like that_, she wondered, _would I have had the ability to kill him? Someone who was willing to die?_ She didn't quite know. In the past she would have gladly given the person as best a death was possible. But things had changed, so many things. And nothing would be the same again.

Her day rounded off with a revived conversation with the nurse. "What do you plan on doing after this?" Sam asked as she ran her fingers through the boys black hair. She found it calming.

"I have family over in Rayford." She replied. "Uncle Ned has been stockpiling supplies for years. We all thought he was crazy." She looked away, shamed to have insulted a family member.

"Hey," She said reaching over with her free hand, and placing it on her shoulder, "don't be like that. The important thing is that you have a plan. That's more than I can say."

"I guess you're right." The nurse stated, cheering up. "I hope you find one as well." They smiled at each other.

The next couple of hours of so was simply just a waiting game. There was nothing to do except count the ceiling tiles, and that didn't last very long. It seemed forever, but after about three hours of waiting, the guards came in and addressed the group of 'living casualties.' She heard more than one guard talk about them in this way. He told the group that they were being evacuated out of the city to a military compound. "Half of you will be sent north, the rest will go west. The busses arrive in 20 minutes. If you have friends in here, I suggest you say goodbye now."

Sam wasn't surprised that the military would choose who was sent where. They had to control everyone's lives. "Guess this means goodbye then." Sam said hugging the nurse.

"I guess it does." The nurse replied, "Do you have any plan formulated?"

She looked at the boy still unconscious on the cot for a few moments. "Where ever he goes, I go." She stated in a way the demanded no argument.

"Why is that? You barely know him." She wasn't arguing, just curious.

She gave a shrug and looked back at the nurse. "Someone has to look after him."

The nurse nodded a few times and replied solemnly "Good luck to you then."

"And to you as well." They hugged one more time before the guard came in and escorted everyone out to the awaiting busses. No one else was doing so, so she picked up the boy in a bridal style and carried him out the door. He was all too limp in her arms and she banged his head more than once going through doorways.

When she got to her bus, the guard stopped her. "If you're taking the boy," He said, "then you'll be needing this." He handed her a small object which she quickly put into her pocket and forgot about it soon after.

The bus revved up and soon they were off. Where she went, only time would tell.

* * *

"And so now here we are." Sam said finishing her story. It had taken her longer to explain to Dillon than she would have liked, but it chewed up time as the waited.

Dillon remained silent throughout the entire thing but looked confused afterward.

"What didn't you get" She asked him as he worked things out in his head.

"Only one thing," He replied, "why did you go clothes shopping at a time like this?"

She gave a short chuckle as she head his question. "Believe me darling, if you saw what I _was_ wearing, you would have suggested it to."

He gave a small shrug and brushed the question aside. It wasn't that important. There were more pressing matters. "So do you have a plan?" He asked. If they really were going to get through this together, they needed something to go from.

"After all this time, I still don't know. Let's just see what happens, and hope we don't get killed in the process."

But things don't always have a way of working out. There was one other person driving that night that refused to believe he could be infected. He was driving home, still hoping to find his family even after that horrifying phone call. But his denial put that bus of people at risk. This man's vision was slowly turning orange and things were becoming distorted. Soon later his mind left him and he became the only infected able to drive. He saw the headlights in the distance and he hated them. He would stop them from glaring in his eyes. He spun the wheel and turned off the road, into the grassy medium, and straight into the path of the bus.

The bus driver failed to see him in time and drove straight over the man's car, causing the bus to be launched up and onto its side. Sam and Dillon didn't know what hit either of them as their worlds descended into chaos once more.

* * *

I will try to post twice a month. Once at the beggining and then again half way through. But still no promisses.


	3. 03 Wandering Hero

**Jack**

He was hoping that it wouldn't come to this. Despite everything that had happened, he still needed to see his brother. But he didn't expect that it would take so long to get there.

Jacob started that fateful day taking a final inventory of everything that was stashed away in his truck. Jacob was a trucker for a living, and very often slept in his vehicle. And that was completely fine given that it was made for it. There was a small living quarter in the back of the cabin. But he wouldn't be getting much sleep with all of the supplies he had packed it with.

It was still rather early, but he couldn't waste any time. The infection was spreading south at an extreme pace, despite what the government said CEDA was doing. He never trusted the government. Not even when it came to his own well-being.

He decided that it was time to go after he had double checked everything on his long-hauler. Jack climbed into his truck, and nearly felt sick. Was he really doing this? Was he really going to see his brother after all this time apart? He couldn't say. His brother lived in Philadelphia, and he could very well be dead by now. Or even worse.

Jack couldn't think that. He knew his brother, he was a fighter. And Jack needed to be to. It was only past 10am, but he still needed to head out as soon as he could. The truck was fuelled and ready to go. He jumped in and started the engine. He then took down the sun visor and found his only keepsake: the last picture of Jack and his brother. He would keep it at all costs. "Hold on," He whispered to the picture, "I'm coming." But now was no time to be emotional. That could be done once he found him.

Now that the engine was warmed up, he stepped on the gas, and headed off into what he would soon find to be the rest of his life. Jack was a very rugged man. His shoulders were very broad and his chest was extremely sculpted. He usually wore a plaid shirt tucked into a very worn pair of slacks. It wasn't the most appealing attire, but it made him constable. He always wore a pair of heavy steel toed leather boots that tended to give him a case of lead foot. Although in this situation, he wouldn't mind. The only facial hair he had has a large bushy beard the covered his lower jaw. There was a similar scene of hair on his head.

It would be a long trek to Philly. Especially since he was starting in Florida. Why did he have to cross half the country, and during an outbreak like this. It wouldn't be easy, but he would make sure that he saw him safe in the end. The first town he would have to go through was Eatonia. It was roughly a half hour drive. But with the amount of people staying at home, he could probably cut it down to about half. He managed to make great time and seemed to be about twenty miles away when he heard sirens blare behind. Despite being no drivers on the road, there was still at least some law enforcement.

The initial siren of the police car startled him, but quickly figured it was for him. With a groan and another quarter of a mile, he pulled over onto the shoulder. He had never gotten pulled over for anything before but he guessed there was a first time for everything. He waited inside of his truck, despite the major height difference from the cabin window and the ground.

Jack watched in his mirror as a young officer got out of the cruiser and blew his nose, long and noisily. The officer looked like he had just gotten out of the academy. He sneezed again after he had closed the driver's side door, blew his nose again, and made his way over to Jack's truck.

When the officer knocked on the door, Jack simply rolled down his window to peer down at the man. "Could you get out of the vehicle please?" It took Jack a few moments to figure out what had been asked as the officer's nose was still stuffed. Without a word, Jack got out. "Thank you sir." The officer stated politely. At least Jack thought it was polite.

"Do you know how fast you were going?" He continued, taking out a note pad.

"Honestly, I don't." Jack was hoping to be done of this as soon as was possible so that he may continue on his way.

"I glocked you in at….at….at….ACHOO!" and he sneezed all over Jack. It was a very wet sneeze, causing a spray that was clearly visible.

Jack was very offended. As he wiped himself off with a tissue from his pocket, he gave the officer a few choice words. "What's the big idea boy? Why didn't you call in sick today?" He then mumbled to himself "Ah, I think some got in my mouth."

"I dried." He replied in a weaker voice, obviously sorry. "When I phoned in, dey told me dat too many people have already done so. We were down to half the force already. Believe me, if I could have, I would be sitting at home drying to get rid of dis flu." It was that last word that made Jack worry. He had heard that it was a flu outbreak that first started in Philadelphia. It made him on edge, and thank-goodness to.

The officer told him that he was going nearly double the speed limit. "I don't see anything wrong with that," Jack said, "If there was anyone on the road, I would gladly slow down for them."

"Doesn't madder sir." He stated as he wrote up the ticket. "De law is de l – AHHHH" The officer unexpectedly screamed as he crumpled over in pain. The notebook went fluttering to the ground as the pen bounced downward. Jack, forgetting that the man had a 'flu', ran over to the man. He quickly remembered what had happened in Philly and jumped back just as the officer took a swing at him. The officer then turned his head at him to peer up with glossy white eyes filled with hatred and rage.

"Jesus H. Christ!" Jack yelled when he saw what had happened to the man. Scared for the moment, he was frozen in spot. Then the officer took a run at him, snapping Jack too of his senses. He did a quick side step dogging the charge, causing the infected to slam into the side of the truck. Knowing that he couldn't take off quick enough in his truck, Jack made for the police cruiser.

He rushed for it knowing that it was still on. He would take it for a bit, and then come back. All of his supplies were still inside of the truck and he wasn't about to leave it all behind. He grabbed the door handle and simply waited for a few seconds. As soon as the officer had found Jack again, it came at him full tilt. When the officer was within range, Jack flung open the door as hard as he could and hit the man full on, knocking him back to the ground.

Jack jumped inside, put it in drive, and zoomed off down the highway. He thought he had lost the now deranged person, until he heard a loud thump coming from the back. He looked in the rear view mirror and was horrified to see the officer hanging from the back. It must have had enough time to grab onto the side of the cruiser as Jack drove off.

He had to think fast. Somehow Jack had to get this mad man off of the car. He tried to put the car into a spin but it was no good. When he looked back, the man was still hanging on. He seemed a little closer in fact. Frustrated, he slammed on the gas once more and sped back down the road. He fishtailed as he drove thinking it might help instead. Still no luck. It was when the man was smashing the window did Jack finally get fed up.

He slammed on the brakes making the man's fist smash through the glass at an awkward angle. Jack then put the vehicle into reverse and sped up again. The officer couldn't brace in time with the sudden move in direction and lost grip of the car. Fortunately for Jack, the man's hand was still stuck in the back window. Jack then braked again, and this time it was successful. With the loosened grip of the officer, his extra weight caused him to slide off the back of the cruiser while the hand remained in the shattered window.

With this final opportunity, Jack knew what he had to do. He waited for the officer to get up once more, and then reversed once more. Jack caught the man square in the chest and kept reversing. He was hitting the floor with the gas pedal and still he reversed. The entire event only lasted a few seconds. He braced for impact as the median got closer to the rear end or the car. Then, it hit him.

The end of the car crumpled as the man ceased to exist. Jack hit his head on the back with such force that it broke the headrest off. It took him a few minutes to regain his senses after the crash. After he had figure out where he was once again, he stepped out of the car to inspect what he had just done. There was nothing but a red smear where the torso was and a pair of shoulders and a head resting on the crumpled rear end of the cruiser.

"Pore bastard." He mumbled. "He seemed like a good kid. Shame really." He said a quick word for the man and was about to leave when he noticed something shining in the trunk. It wouldn't be something he thought of doing under normal circumstances, but these certainly were not normal circumstances any more. He hesitantly pushed the man's remains aside and pried open the crumpled trunk. Inside was a bunch of stuff he didn't take note of, but what did catch his eye was several spike strips and a shotgun with a single box of ammo.

He didn't have a gun of any sort in his truck, so he felt obligated to take the shotgun if this was any indication of things to come. It was the spike strips that made him think. _Maybe if... yes. That could work. I just need to find a big enough garage. _It wasn't much but it was a plan. He grabbed the strips and left the rest in the trunk. He strapped the shotgun to his back and started for his truck which now seemed a good quarter mile away.

It took Jack about an hour to reach his truck. When he finally did, he tossed the strips in the passenger side very gently as to not damage anything, and hopped back into the driver's side with the gun laying on the dash. The engine still turned on smoothly and Jack headed down towards his next destination.

It took him roughly ten miles until he found the perfect spot to set up his plan. It was a truck stop. But it wasn't any truck stop. This one had a maintenance building in the back for repairs. He pulled into the depot and parked the truck near the door.

With shot gun in hand, he slowly turned the handle to peer inside the building. He was greeted by several sets of glowing eyes, and just as many screams of rage.

Jack quickly stepped through and slammed the door behind him. He pumped the gun once and started with the nearest infected being. He shot from the hip and hit the infected square in the stomach. It slowed to a stop as it seemed to inspect its entrails at they spilled to the floor, quickly followed by the rest of the body. Jack then Turned to face the next infected. He quickly pumped, and fired a second round hitting it in the chest. The infected then seemed to fly backwards as the round impacted. The third was right behind the second and Jack repeated the process. This round entered at the legs, effectively removing them from the body. The infected then fell to the floor instantly dead. A forth came at him and was dispatched yet again. It was the final one that made Jack stumble. It somehow came up from behind him and swatted him while he was turned. Jack stumbled forward at the sudden attack. He righted himself and spun around to face the last attacker. As it came closer for another swing, Jack did the same and struck it across the chest. It stumbled backwards at the strike and as it righted itself for a second attack, Jack had raised the shotgun to peer down the sight, aimed, and fired. The infected's head was the target and it got the full force of the shot. It quickly fell to its knees and tumbled over.

Jack stood in place for several moments thinking over what he had just done. It wasn't like him to harm anyone, but he guessed that he would have to do this much more often in the near future. He knew that his brother would absolutely love this situation. He always was a bit angry and always looked for an excuse to start a fight. But he would be able to tell him that in person, Jack would find him and finally be able to make up for what had happened.

After Jack pulled himself out of the past, he remembered what he had to do in the present. Beings the door was closed, nothing else could get into the garage. And luckily for Jack, nothing was trying to either. Jack walked over to the main door, gun in hand, and slowly pulled on the chain to lift it up. It was still fairly loud so Jack decided to quicken his pace. When he judged that it was high enough, Jack tied the chain off to one side and ran out to his awaiting truck. He pulled it inside the garage and quickly closed the door behind him.

"Now," He stated "let's see if I can't turn this into a freight train with wheels." Jack's plan was to fortify his truck enough so that if he did run into any more of these infected individuals, which he most likely would, he could just plough through them. He wouldn't feel good about it, but it must be done.

It took well over three hours to get the truck into working order. The spike strips that Jack had found in the police cruiser were now mounted to the sides of the truck along with several other modifications. Most of these were made by commandeering parts of other trucks and scraps in the shop. The additions included a plough attached to a grill that was now on the front, a set of spikes on all six wheels, and finished with a large cage like structure on the back for those just in case moments.

When he was finished, Jack stepped back and admired what he had just done. "This would never be street legal." He murmured to himself. He never would have dreamed of doing anything like this to his truck but things have changed. Now Jack is willing to do almost anything if he is going to see his brother again.

Jack didn't bother to put things away; he simply got in his truck and drove off. He didn't even put the door back down as he didn't think it mattered anymore. "Not much matters anymore."

It was a long drive to get into town. It only took a half hour, but in his new state of mind it seemed to drag on for hours.

When he did finally make it into Eatonia, he wasn't surprised to see the state that it was in. Cars were crashed on the roads, buildings were already looted, and the infected were everywhere. These infected were just like the rest; angry and violent. These were less of a problem to Jack than they were to Sam as none of them could even make a dent in Jack's truck as they all seemed to die the moment they touched any of the extrusions that had been added.

He drove around the city for a few minutes before something caught his eye. Off down the road, a small barricade had been erected. It was possible for Jack to get through it, but not with great cost. The barricade was not simple wire and boards; it was army jeeps and trucks. All of them with manned with a soldier with a gun. It would not be in Jack's best interest to try and get through by force.

So instead, Jack slowed his truck and parked in front of the barricade. He saw the looks on their faces as he pulled up and couldn't help but notice the faces that nearly every soldier put on. Most of them looked impressed at the vehicle, somewhere scared and one even seemed disappointed.

The disappointed one was the first to approach him. He made his way from the barricade and stopped at the driver's side door. He spoke in a rough voice that didn't sit well with Jack. "Sir, would you please get out of the vehicle."

"Here we go again." Jack murmured as he once again stepped out of his truck.

"What was that?" The soldier snapped back at him.

"Nothing." Jack stated back quickly. This man was extremely irritated and Jack didn't want to cause any trouble.

"That's what I thought. Now, what brings you here so late? Thought we'd send search parties to look for you, or were you too busy building your death hauler to hear the recording?"

Jack was unsure of what this man meant. "What do you mean late?"

"For Christ's sake! I don't know if you're aware of this, there are goddamned zombies running around trying to eat anything that moves. Everyone that means to stay alive is already here at this safe house." The soldier then drew Jack's attention to the bJack building behind him; the high school. "Unless you want to try and risk it on your own, I suggest you get your butt inside."

Jack didn't have to be told twice. "Fine then. I wish I could say it was nice meeting you." And Jack started to climb back into his truck.

"What! Where on earth do you think you're going?" This soldier was generally surprised at what Jack was planning to do.

Jack was all too amused at this. He had spent a lot of time doing similar things to his brother. His brother was a lot like the man that stood before him. "I'm taking my chances. I know how to fight those things and I know exactly where I'm headed."

"And where might that be?" The soldier was still mad at, everything, but he was now curious.

Jack took a deep breath before answering. "Fairfield. Pennsylvania."

The soldier wasn't going to have any of that. "Nope, no way, nadda chance. There is no way I am letting you go to the epicentre of where this all started."

Jack simply laughed. "Sir," He said once he calmed down, "there is nothing that is going to stop me from getting there. Even if I have to go through every single one of these, Infected, with my bare hands."

The soldier was silent for a few moments before beginning in a stern voice. "Son. I like your style. You don't let anyone tell you what to do. I'll tell you what." Jack was hanging from the door way the entire time and decided to step down so that he could give the soldier his full attention. "I'll put in a word with the Colonel and see if we can't let you get on your way."

"I would thank you kindly for that." Jack was surprised that this soldier would help him. He seemed to be extremely agitated not only moments ago. But then again this man reminded Jack of his brother in many ways and his brother tended to have a similar personality. "I didn't think that anyone would do something like that for me."

"Nonsense. If I see a good person that needs help, I help them. Simple as that." The soldier turned towards one of his men and shouted at them. "Corporal! Get these cars out of the way so we can get this monster into the safe zone!"

"Sir, yes sir!" And the corporal began ordering around the lesser soldiers on which ones to move first.

The man that Jack was talking to then turned back and introduced himself. "Name's Captain Zachary Klassen. Second in command at this safe zone and commanding officer of the current protection of these citizens." He offered a hand out to Jack.

He accepted Zachery's hand and returned the introduction. "I'm Jacob. No fancy titles. Just Jack."

Zachery just gave a single burst laugh. "Alright then 'Just Jack,' let's get you inside and then we can talk about getting you on your way."

"Are you MAD!" Jack had met the Colonel and decided that he didn't like him one bit. He was drastically overweight and had the voice to go with it. His entire body jiggled when he talked and he was out of his seat screaming at Zachery's proposal to let Jack keep going. "I am in charge of the safety of the people in this town and you are one of those people. If higher ups hear that I let a civilian fend for them-self, they would have my head. You're staying right here until we all ship out." Zachery was about to speak up but the colonel cut him off. "I will be having no augments about this, Captain. We should be declaring war against these infected. We need every man we can get if the world is going to survive this." And with that, he walked out of the room.

"What's his problem?" Jack questioned irritably after the man was out of ear shot.

It was the Captain that answered his question. "I think it's because his wife was in Pennsylvania."

Jack was saddened to hear about that. It was true that his brother was in Pennsylvania, but at least he could handle himself. "Really," Jack began, trying to lighten the mood, "I would have thought it was the fact that he weighed as much as I do. Despite the fact that I'm a foot taller."

"We don't talk about that." Zachery stated in an emotionless voice. Jack simply looked at the door that he had just left through, wondering if he would ever see that fat man again. He wouldn't.

Instead of wondering, he went to his assigned cot and decided to get some sleep. It was made clear to him that there would be no chance to go back to his truck before everyone was to be sent off in buses. At least it wouldn't be raided by CEDA as he waited inside. They were all too scared to leave the building to go and check if there _was_ something to raid from it.

It was an extremely slow wait as he talked to everyone in the room. Jack had heard a loud crash coming from outside at one point, but when he asked about what had happened, he was told that the situation was under control. And a few hours later, he heard some very loud screaming and yelling from outside the door, but he was told the same as before. It worried him more when the yelling went to the floor above him. It was obvious that there were several other people that were up there that had been there even before Jack himself showed up. But what worried him the most was the gun fire. The near constant gunfire.

It scared him every time he heard a shot being fired. He thought of all of the people that were dying from each shot being fired. How many people would never feel again? How many would never see their families? How many were unlucky enough to be cursed with this infection? How many would he have to kill on his journey to find his brother? To Jack, it didn't matter. He would find his brother. No matter the cost.

He tried to socialize with everyone in the room, but found that he had too little in common with the few people that were quarantined with him. There seemed many more people upstairs. He wondered why they were there and why there were so many more people upstairs compared to the room Jack was in.

It seemed to take forever, but the captain came back in and instructed everyone to start boarding buses so that they may be taken to a safer location. "What about everyone upstairs?" Jack asked. He wasn't to let healthy people be left behind.

"They will be taking two different buses." Zachery told Jack. He seemed to be much sterner than when he tried to convince the colonel to let Jack go. "Those people upstairs," He pointed with the rifle that he always carried around, "they are possibly infected already. If we want to save as many people as we can, were going to need to make sure who is safe now." That last statement made Jack a little uncomfortable. He knew he had been in close contact with someone who had been infected, but he wasn't showing any signs of having a cold or anything of the matter. "The last of us military personnel will be heading off in front of them."

Jack could put two and two together. If the military seemed unconcerned about those people, and they were heading off before the buses, then they wouldn't blink an eye if those second set of buses didn't make it to the safer area. "Well you can go," Jack told Zachery, "I'm going to stay with those people. Someone has to make sure that they get where they're going."

It was quiet between the two before the captain slowly let a smile creep onto his face. "I knew I liked you." He let his shoulders slouch as the words exited his mouth. "But the colonel won't like it if you stay behind with these people." He thought hard about what he was going to do and seemed to get an idea all at once. "OK Jack, here's what you're going to do..."

Zachery then explained to him that there would be another set of buses arriving in about half an hour. If Jack really wanted to stay with these people, And Jack needed to reassure him that he in fact did, Then he was to drive to the off ramp of the same highway and wait their until he saw the second bus. They both doubted that there would be anyone coming into town so he would stay on the opposite side of the road.

"Thanks," Jack said in return, "it means a lot that you would care about every person that can be saved."

Zachery was almost faltered that a civilian would say something like that. "Just make sure you show up alive." He scolded Jack once the plan was laid out. "We could use a man like you for a while."

"Yes sir." Jack mocked back. He then shook his hand and headed off to head off to the appointed location.

When he got there, Jack turned off the engine and all lights as to avoid attention from any of the infected that might be walking around. He almost had an encounter but ducked until the wandering body had passed by. It was in that time that the bus had went by. For when he looked back to see if it was safe, he was startled to find a long line of infected running full hilt down the road. Jack looked in the direction that they were running and saw the tail end of a bus in the far distance. "Dammit!" He yelled to himself.

He struggled to restart the engine, by the time he did though, the bus was far down the road to the point in which he could barely see it anymore. "I hope I can catch up to them in time." This was after several more curses.

It took him several hours to make up lost distance. Day had turned to night and the world seemed ever gloomier because of it. He had finally closed to the distance of about a mile when the unthinkable happened.

Some mad man swerved on the road and headed straight for the bus. The driver's intentions were obvious and precise. Jack was horrified as he sat behind the wheel and watched as the bus flipped and rolled several yards down the road. If the military had been there to escort those people, then that might not have happened.

But Jack wasn't about to give up. He pushed the emotions of dread out of his mind and focused on what could still be done for these people. He slowed his speed as he approached the location the bus was now in and was delighted to see that two people had managed to get them self from the wreckage. He immediately stopped the truck with a screech and jumped out to try and help these poor people.

He ran over to them and yelled over "Are you hurt? Does anyone need help?" That was when one of the people turned to look at him from the ground and scared the living daylights out of Jack. The woman's eyes shone with a while light in the darkness. Jack only knew of one explanation for this. This woman was infected. As was the person beside her now that he looked.

Frightened about his well-being he ran back to his truck before the two infected could pull themselves up from the floor. He jumped in and leaned over to grab his shotgun, only to find it missing. A quick look around reviled that it was nowhere to be found.

Now in a real frantic state, Jack couldn't think of what to do. He knew that the two would be on him soon and he had no way to defend himself. "I'll be damned if I let myself go down like this!"

"My thoughts exactly!" Responded a voice in the distance. "Catch!" It instructed.

Jack turned around to see both the infected and a large tire iron headed in his direction. Jack managed to catch the iron with little effort and took a swing with the given momentum to crash into the skull of his attacker causing an explosion of bone and blood. He then looked away from the stumbling body to see a rather young man standing over a second body with a crowbar in hand.

"Thanks." Jack yelled over to him. The boy then looked over to him and smiled. A friendly face; that was a good sign. Jack then jogged over to the boy to thank him more properly. He extended his hand but stopped when he heard something awful. Jack heard a blood curtailing scream coming from out in the distance.

Jack then looked at the kid and saw a look that was both determined and startlingly happy. Jack just simply looked on in confusion at what was going on. "Do you know what that sound means?" The kid asked rhetorically.

"Uhh, no." Jack answered honestly.

"The kid then took a step forward to try and look him in the eyes. "That sound means that had best get out of here as we can. Go get Sam and I'll hold these things off." And he looked around at the general direction of the sound.

"How's Sam?" Jack had no idea of what this woman looked like of where she would even be.

The kid took several steps towards the increasing sounds coming from the brush beside the road and talked over his shoulder at the same time. He instructed quickly. "Brunet, purple and black, behind the bus." Jack didn't need to be told twice.

He immediately headed off to find this mystery woman as the bodies started to stream out of the brush. He found her curled up in a tiny pile of soft clothes. She was half buried under them and Jack just assumed that it was to hide her from the infected. "Sam," Jack whispered to get her attention without startling her, "time to go." The ball gave a small moan of protest before attempting to move. She shifted her position but didn't accomplish much else. "Well, you tried." He joked. He then reached underneath her and lifted the woman into his arms bridal style. She tried to protest at first but she soon brought herself closer to his chest.

Jack rounded the corner of the overturned bus to see the young man swinging rapidly back and forth at the oncoming horde, laughing like a small kid the entire time. "Fun time's over!" Jack yelled over the screams of the infected.

The kid gave a quick look back and nodded before he started to slink back towards the truck. Jack let go of the woman's legs as he reached the truck so that he might actually be able to open the door. It was awkward to get Sam inside but he accomplished this by releasing his grip on her and throwing her over his shoulder. He then placed her in between the seats gently as he hollered back out, "She's in, let's go." And the boy immediately broke off his engagement and ran full tilt as Jack began to pull away from the infected. The boy was smart and ran to the other side of the truck to get in the passenger side. Jack made sure to drive slow enough so that the boy would have enough time to get aboard. He latched himself onto the side handle of the truck and Jack picked up his speed as quickly as was possible. Soon the truck had left the group of infected behind and was speeding down the highway. The kid let out a sigh of relief as he closed the door behind him and sat down.

Jack drove on for a few minutes before trying to say anything. When he did, it came out more of a demand than a question. "What was that all about?"

"Those are what some might call; zombies. They've been running around for about half a day now. Don't know if you've seen them." The boy meant everything in jest when he spoke.

"Not that." Jack was somewhat annoyed but he kept calm. "I'm talking about why you wanted to save her and leave everyone else behind?"

The boy seemed to calm down when he heard the questions. He still had a sense of joy in his voice when he replied, "We made a deal. Throughout this entire thing, we stay together. She saved me, I assume, A now I saved her."

"Technically I did that." Jack responded.

The kid appeared to think this over as Jack drove on. "Technically, yes. Let's just say that it was a joint effort."

"Guess that makes you owe me something." Jack said as a slight joke.

"Guess it does." He replied back. "What do you say? We can't watch each other's back forever. We could use someone like you."

There it was again. Everyone wanted to use him for protection. But this was the first time that he could be protected in return. But he still wasn't going to give up on his goal. "I'll watch your back," He began, "on one condition." He peered over at the kid to see his reply; he nodded, so Jack continued. "I need to find my brother. Long story short, I need to go to Pennsylvania."

The kid almost immediately went into thought, but he soon emerged and asked "How do you know he's going to stay there? With that big of a city, I would want to get out as fast as I could."

"If I know my brother, then he'd do the same thing. That's why I need to get there as soon as I can."

"Slow down big man." The boy reached over and placed a hand on Jack's shoulder. "It's a long way to Philly. You won't get there overnight, and you won't get there without help." He said his last statement in a matter of fact voice. It was not a threat, nor was it a dare. It was a question. A question of 'would you help us survive?' Jack wasn't about leaving people behind. He would help them, and they would help him.

"You guys look like you could use a lift anyhow. How about we go as far as we can together before going our separate ways?" The boy smiled at Jack and nodded his head as the body on the floor whined, "I wish to put in a second opinion."

The boy was ecstatic that the woman was alive. "Sam! How are you feeling?"

"I've still felt worse. I would ask both how you are Dillon, but judging on your conversation, you seem fine." She had a very lovely voice even despite the pain that has seeping through. Sam then opened her eyes and sat up with some strained effort and assistance from Dillon.

She cleared her head once and looked over at Jack and gave him a warm smile, one that she had practised before. "I will ask who your new friend is Dillon." Her smile soon turned into a devilish smirk. Jack had no objections, yet.

"Well Sam, this is...Um...He can answer that question." Both Dillon and Jack realized that they had yet to exchange names.

"My name is Jacob. But you two can call me Jack. It'll be a pleasure to help you guys get someplace safe."

"I know safe isn't in Philly." Sam may have been unable to move, but she was still fully aware of what had happened around her, including Dillon's and Jack's conversation.

"Look," Jack began, "it's a long way from here to Philadelphia. Who knows what will happen between now and then? Let's just get to a safe pace and think up a plan then."

Sam nodded a few times thinking to herself and stated, "Alright, alright. I just hope we can get there soon."

"Were already here." Jack announced as he approached a road block. What was odd about it was that there was no one manning it. Everyone's thoughts were relatively the same at this point. _I don't like the looks of this._

Jack, realizing that no one was going to come out and remove the road block did what he wanted to do back at Eatonia. He put his foot to the gas and picked up as much speed as he could. Fortunately, this roadblock was made of simple signs and wooden structures that splintered as they gave way to the behemoth of a truck that Jack had built. "Let's find that safe house, and prey that it's still safe." Jack whispered as the bits of debris fell back to the ground behind him.


End file.
